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MORE SPORTS
Dec 25, 2005

Arakawa's Turin bid gaining steam

Former world champion Shizuka Arakawa took the lead at the Japanese national figure skating championships on Saturday, improving her chances of securing one of three spots for Japan at the Turin Winter Olympics.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2005

Agreement on new S. Korea flights

Japan and South Korea agreed Saturday to allow their airlines to open four new routes between the two countries, including a service linking Hakodate in Hokkaido and Seoul, Japanese officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2005

Man held for threatening Starbucks

A 28-year-old man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of sending an e-mail message to the Web site of Starbucks Coffee Japan, threatening to set fire to its stores on Sunday, Tokyo police said.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2005

Missile shield project to proceed

The government formally decided Saturday to begin joint development of a next-generation interceptor missile with the United States in April -- a move critics say will create tension in East Asia.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2005

Firm headed by Sony founder's son in tax fight

A now-defunct company headed by Hideo Morita, the eldest son of late Sony Corp. founder Akio Morita, failed to declare some 22.8 billion yen in income in the three years to March 2004, it was learned Saturday.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Dec 25, 2005

Born to be wild

The Gorillarium at Howletts Zoo, near the cathedral city of Canterbury in the southern English county of Kent, is about as good as it gets. If you are a captive gorilla. Or if you want to see one.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 25, 2005

Creators, not hacks

OUTLAW MASTERS OF JAPANESE FILM by Chris Desjardins. London, New York: I.B. Tauris, 2005, 262 pp., $19.95 (paper). IRON MAN: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto, by Tom Mes. FAB Press, 2005. 237 pp., $24.95 (paper) Foreign critics used to worship at the altars of Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 25, 2005

Merry Christmas -- whether rendered as a fact or not

Today being Christmas Day, I think we should all come clean and dedicate ourselves to truth. When all is said and done (and pretty soon it may be), there is probably no person in the world as tortured over the truth these days as U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2005

Ground floor of a scandal

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the Chiba and Kanagawa prefectural police launched a joint investigation Dec. 20 into Japan's building-design scandal, raiding more than 100 locations in Tokyo and five prefectures -- Chiba, Saitama, Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Miyazaki.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Dec 25, 2005

Political 'capital' like dust in the wind

WASHINGTON -- What a year! When 2005 began, there was so much hope and optimism in Washington, even among us Democrats.
Features
Dec 25, 2005

Haruki Kadokawa: Spirits of the Yamato

Haruki Kadokawa is the closest Japanese equivalent to fabled Hollywood moguls like Sam Goldwyn or Howard Hughes in their glory days as master promoters and unrepentant egotists.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 25, 2005

Cultural depths of celluloid

READING A JAPANESE FILM: Cinema in Context, by Keiko I. McDonald. Honolulu: Hawai'i University Press, 2005, 294 pp., photo illustrations. $20.00 (paper). Films are not only to be passively watched, they are also to be actively "read." The viewer deciphers not just the story but all the other indications...
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2005

Government streamlining bill planned

The Cabinet decided Saturday to submit a bill next year to demonstrate its resolve to maintain Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's initiative to streamline government agencies.
Features
Dec 25, 2005

The stuff of legend

She was named after the capital of Japan's first court. She was said by her crew to be more beautiful than a woman. She was the largest battleship in the world. She was the Yamato.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2005

Four people die as snow continues to fall on Sea of Japan coast

Heavy snow fell Saturday in areas already blanketed by record amounts of snow for December, particularly along the Sea of Japan coast, causing avalanches and snarling transportation.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2005

Cabinet approves austere 2006 budget worth 79.7 trillion yen

The Cabinet formally approved on Saturday a 79.686 trillion yen general account budget for fiscal 2006 that would help slow down growth of the nation's debt.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2005

Golden beaches bid ill will

SYDNEY -- Goodbye to the traditional Australian summer, surfing Pacific waves or lazing on golden beaches. Meet this summer's new beach sport, dodging gangs of racists trying to kill one another.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 24, 2005

Miyazato scaling back

Ai Miyazato wants to limit her appearances in Japan next season and said Friday she does not intend to play on the Japan LPGA tour until after the majors wrap up at the Women's British Open in August.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 24, 2005

Oda takes lead after short program at nationals

Nobunari Oda got off to a strong start in his quest for an Olympic berth when he took the lead over rival Daisuke Takahashi after the men's short program at the national championships Friday.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 24, 2005

Pan Pacific has loaded lineup

Defending champion Maria Sharapova will feature in a strong field of players at the 2006 Toray Pan Pacific Open, which also includes former world No. 1 Martina Hingis, organizers said Friday.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 24, 2005

Mourinho alienating everyone but his players, Chelsea fans

LONDON -- Jose Mourinho seems to have found the 30-hour day.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 24, 2005

Asada, Valentine win FSAJ Awards

Figure skater Mao Asada, the Grand Prix Final and world junior champion this year, and Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine have been selected as the top Japanese and foreign sports figures for 2005 in voting by the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Dec 24, 2005

Lotte raises Watanabe's salary

Lotte Marines submarine right-hander Shunsuke Watanabe re-signed Friday with the Japan Series champions for an estimated 140 million yen plus performance-based incentives of up to 10 million yen.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo